Tien Giang province breeds more tra fish on alluvial areas

Tien Giang (VNA) – The Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang is developing intensive tra fish farming in alluvial areas along rivers to produce high quality fish for export.

Illustrative photo (Photo: VNA)

The province is using more than 120ha of ground area along rivers to breed fish, mostly tra fish, according to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Tan Phong commune, which is an islet in the Tien river, is one of the major areas for breeding tra fish in alluvial ground areas in the province.

The commune has more than 60ha of alluvial ground areas used to farm tra fish, accounting for 50 percent of the province total’s tra fish breeding area, according to Kieu Manh Quan, Secretary of Tan Phong commune’s Party Committee.

Cao Van Hoa, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said to develop tra fish breeding in alluvial ground areas, the province has paid attention to zoning farming areas and transferring farming techniques for farmers.

The province will also create favourable conditions for tra fish breeders to participate in the delta’s three-tier cooperation plan for production of high-quality tra fish breeds in the delta.

The cooperation plan, which was approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in March, aims to establish three-tier tra fish breed production chains that produce about 50 percent of the region’s demand of 2.2 – 2.5 billion fries a year by 2020.       

The department has encouraged farmers to breed tra fish under Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) standards.

The province has 51.4ha of tra fish bred under GAP standards, including 6.4ha under global GAP standards and 45ha under Vietnamese GAP standards. It also has 15.8ha bred under Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) standards.

In Tien Giang, main tra fish breeding areas are in islets and alluvial ground areas along the Tien river in Cai Lay and Cai Be districts.

The province plans to have about 180ha of tra fish with an annual output of 67,000 tonnes by 2020.

Located downstream of the Tien River, a tributary of the Mekong River, Tien Giang has a dense network of rivers and canals which have advantages for aquaculture development.